Chapter 22: Connecting to the Internet

What Are Network Connections?

A network connection tells Windows how your computer is connected to another computer, whether over the phone or via a cable. Windows supports these types of network connections:

• Dial-up connection Connection using a modem and phone line, either a regular phone line or an ISDN line. Dial-up connections to the Internet are described throughout this chapter. Dialing one computer from another is described in section "Connecting Two Computers by Using a Dial-Up Connection" in Chapter 27.
• Local area network (LAN) connection Connection over a cable or wireless LAN adapter to other computers in the same building. LAN connections are described in Chapter 28. DSL and cable Internet accounts usually appear as LAN connections, because they don't have to dial in.
• Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection Connection to a private LAN over the Internet. See Chapter 27 for details.
• Direct network connection Connection to another computer over a cable or infrared link. See the section "Connecting Two Computers with Direct Network Connection" in Chapter 27.
• Incoming connection Connection that allows other computers to dial in to your computer (or connect via a cable, infrared link, or over the Internet as part of a VPN).
• Gateway connection Connection through another computer. For example, if you connect to the Internet via Internet Connection Sharing on another computer on a LAN, you see a Residential Gateway connection on your computer.

To see network-related tasks you can perform, such as creating and editing network connections, display the Network And Internet Connections window shown in Figure 22-1 by choosing Start | Control Panel | Network And Internet Connections. You also use this window to manage your LAN connections, as described in Chapter 28.

Figure 22-1: The Control Panel's Network And Internet Connections window

To see your existing Internet and LAN connections, click the Network Connections icon to display the Network Connections window, shown in Figure 22-2. (You might think to click the Internet Options icon instead, but the dialog box that this icon displays pertains mainly to Internet Explorer rather than connecting to the Internet.) The Network Connections window lists every way that your computer connects to other computers: LAN, cable Internet, and DSL connections are listed in the LAN Or High-Speed Internet section and dial-up connections (including ISDN connections) are listed in the Dial-Up section. You can right-click a connection in the Network Connections window and choose Properties from the menu that appears to see or change the properties for that LAN or Internet connection.

Figure 22-2: The Network Connections window shows both Internet and LAN connections.

You can also display the Network Connections window by choosing Start | Connect To | Show All Connections (if Connect To appears on your Start menu) or Start | All Programs | Accessories | Communications | Network Connections.

To add a Network Connections command to your Start menu, see the sidebar "Displaying the Network Connections Window" in Chapter 27. Then you can display the Network Connections window by choosing Start / Network Connections.